Going to Marble Mountain with a visiting friend

I'll be honest about something that doesn't make me sound like a very nice person: I don't really like it when people come and visit me because I don't like feeling as though I have to go out of my way to entertain them with activities. Perhaps it is because other than the intentional exercise that I do such as running or lifting weights, I don't really like running around and exploring new crap especially because most of the stuff you can do here or any other tourist place like Da Nang, most of it is crap and overpriced.

I didn't have much of a choice in this particular adventure though because the pal that was visiting is one of my oldest friends and I wasn't just going to send him off on his own while I sit around in the pub.

We made our way to the extremely overrated yet very popular attraction of Marble Mountain that is named that because the mountain is made of some sort of material that I'd be willing to bet you can guess what it is.

Just getting to Marble Mountain isn't that difficult. You could probably walk there if you really wanted to. It's only about 8 km from the tourist part of Da Nang beaches. We rode bicycles there and when you arrive it is very easy to get a place to park. Then you have to walk up a bunch of stairs to the stuff that is up top.

The stairs aren't that tough although I would recommend that you don't take grandma here. we were never in any sort of danger of falling down or anything but if someone were to make a bad step, I could see hospitalization in their future.

When you get to the top there are a bunch of temples and it is very quiet - which is something that is so damn elusive in all of Da Nang.

Statues are all over the place and while it appears to be a Buddhist place, I can't really say for sure because I don't really know what the religions of this country are. I'm going to go ahead and presume it is Buddhist though because you know, Buddha was there and all.

The place is kept very clean and one thing I will say about this place that I absolutely loved was the complete absence of touts or pushy salespeople once you get past the parking lot. There are people that are going to approach you and offer to be a guide but this is completely unnecessary. There is only one set of stairs and you are not allowed off the footpaths. What exactly is the guide going to do for you?

It is also very clearly marked about how much it costs to get in (40,000 VND or about $1.50) which is very reasonable considering what is bound to be a tremendous amount of upkeep.

The peace and quiet at the top makes the trip worthwhile, that much is for sure. I was a little disappointed that at the beginning of the steps they have little speakers built into the walls playing music that doesn't even have anything to do with culture, religion, Vietnam, or even mountains. "My heart will go on" by Celine Dion was playing at the start but thankfully, the speakers stop existing once you get about 100 stairs up.

The view is ok I guess but if that is your main reason for going there you can just skip it. I think the view from the top of my condo is actually more elevated than this "mountain" is.

For the less mobile of people, there is actually an elevator that can take you to another viewpoint but we didn't use that. I have no idea what that costs but I would imagine something like double what it costs to simply enter would be reasonable.

This entire thing can be done in less than an hour and after you've seen all the temples and taken some photos, there really isn't much reason to stick around. The cafes at the bottom have reasonable prices as well.

So if you are visiting Da Nang and want to do something other than just hang out at bars and restaurants I suppose this really cheap outing could be worthwhile. I wouldn't say it is anything particularly special or a "must see" type of thing though.